College Football

FSU Football: Potential Wins And Losses On Remaining Schedule

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:55 a.m. ET

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Nov 29, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles mascot Chief Osceola rides Renaeade on to the field prior to the game against the Florida Gators at Doak Campbell Stadium. Florida State Seminoles defeated Florida Gators 24-19. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

FSU football are coming off back-to-back losses for the first time since 2011. How will the ‘Noles fare the rest of the season with a terrible defense?

Make no mistake about it, this 2016 FSU football season will go down as a disappointment, even if they win out the remainder of their schedule(which is highly unlikely).

The FSU defense is off to a historically bad start. There’s no shot at a national title and virtually no shot at a ACC title in 2016.

There are seven games left on the schedule for FSU football, and there are a lot of questions remaining about this team.

Will they quit on Jimbo Fisher now that the above goals are crushed? Will Charles Kelly make it to the end of the season as FSU football defensive coordinator?

Those two areas are of high concern because they will likely impact wins and losses for FSU football on the remainder of the season.

Let’s look at the remaining games and see where the potential wins and losses are on the schedule.

Oct 4, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Miami Hurricanes helmet on the field before a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Miami

Miami rolls into the FSU game off a 35-21 victory over Georgia Tech, which was the first real power 5 team Miami has played all season.

So it’s hard to gauge just how good this Miami team is at he moment. Of course, they return Brad Kaaya who has put up huge numbers against much better FSU defenses the past couple of years in losing efforts.

They also have some talented running backs and receivers. However, the defense is the biggest question mark as they lost some players for off the field incidents and are playing a number of true freshmen at linebacker.

This game could be much like the UNC game.

A shootout with the team having the ball last getting the win. The only other benefit to FSU is that Kaaya is virtually a statue in the pocket and not much of a threat to run. He’ll be the first true pocket passer the ‘Noles have faced all season.

Oct 4, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons quarterback Tyler Cameron (4) rolls out of the pocket under pressure by Florida State Seminoles linebacker Reggie Northrup (5) during the fourth quarter at Doak Campbell Stadium. Florida State Seminoles defeated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 43-3. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Wake Forest

Wake Forest has already surpassed their win total from a season ago with four, but is coming off their first defeat at the hands of NC State on Saturday.

The ‘Noles are the more talented team on offense and defense, but Wake Forest is a scrappy bunch that gave the ‘Noles all they could handle last season after Dalvin Cook went out of the game with an injury.

This is a game that FSU football should be able to win, regardless of how terrible the defense is at this time.

A loss to Wake Forest would be of epic proportions, but shouldn’t happen.

Dec 31, 2015; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney and quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) celebrate after defeating Oklahoma Sooners in the 2015 CFP semifinal at the Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium. Clemson won 37-17. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Clemson

It was already going to be a tall order for the ‘Noles to win this game prior to the season started, even with the game being in Tallahassee. One can’t look at one game and draw a conclusion about how another game will transpire.

However, Clemson just beat Louisville this weekend and control their own destiny in the ACC and National title picture.

The same Louisville team that curb stomped FSU just three weeks ago. The Clemson defense will be the best defense the ‘Noles have faced all season.

They would have to score on every single possession and get some turnover help from Clemson to win this game in my opinion with the way the defense has played up to this point.

Nov 14, 2015; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Florida State University defensive end Josh Sweat (9) chases down North Carolina State Wolfpack running back Dakwa Nichols (27) during the first half of the game at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

NC State

Well, first of all this game is at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, NC. So that should make ‘Noles fans feel all warm and fuzzy inside shouldn’t it?

NC State hasn’t played anyone of note with their lone loss coming against American East Conference foe East Carolina University.

However, they are a pretty balanced team, averaging near 300 yards in the air and 208 yards rushing per game.

They are averaging 40 points per game and giving up 21 points per game defensively.

FSU struggled with NC State last season before getting it together and winning 34-17. The FSU offense will be able to score on NC State, the question is will the FSU defense be able to get any stops?

This is certainly a game FSU could lose in a few weeks.

Oct 25, 2014; Winston-Salem, NC, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Tyler Murphy (2) runs the ball during the second quarter against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at BB&T Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Boston College

Boston College is 3-2 on the season and seem to be about where they were last season. They seemed to have regressed a bit defensively, but are marginally better on offense.

The ‘Noles offense was stagnated last season by the Boston College defense, scoring only one touchdown the entire game. The FSU defense shutout Boston College with Jalen Ramsey scoring a touchdown on defense to give the ‘Noles a 14-0 win.

This is a game that FSU should win, regardless of how terrible the defense is simply because they are the more talented team on both sides of the ball.

Oct 11, 2014; Syracuse, NY, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. (15) defends as Syracuse Orange quarterback AJ Long (4) drops back to pass during the fourth quarter at the Carrier Dome. Florida State defeated Syracuse 38-20. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Syracuse

I’m not going to lie, this game gives me nightmares and that’s the absurd part of it. There’s absolutely no reason of doubt should creep into my mind about this game.

However, the way the FSU defense struggles against these types of offenses, there’s good reason to be weary.

Granted, the Syracuse defense is a sieve that opposing offenses go through effortlessly. The Syracuse offense will put up points against this FSU defense no question.

However, I think the FSU offense will have just enough to get the win in this one.

Sep 3, 2016; Gainesville, FL, USA; Florida Gators quarterback Luke Del Rio (14) throws a pass during the second half of a football game against the Massachusetts Minutemen at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Gators won 24-7. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Florida

Well, a lot can happen between now and when these two teams meet on November 26. The Gators are 4-1 and should be 5-0, but blowed a 21-3 lead against Tennessee a couple of weeks ago.

Florida is a bit like Boston College in that they have improved on their weaknesses a bit(offense), but have regressed on their strengths(defense).

If I had to pick a winner in this game now I’m not sure if I could. FSU is the more talented team overall, but just the lack of the FSU defense’s ability to get stops makes it difficult to be confident at all in saying they’ll get the win here.

I’ll say this is a toss-up game unless the FSU defense improves dramatically between now and then.

Sep 24, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher looks on from the bench in the second quarter against the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Logan Bowles-USA TODAY Sports

Conclusion

I predicted that FSU would not go undefeated this season. The schedule was just too tough with a quarterback with no experience, and a defense with question marks.

Yes, we were one of the few sites to point that out TWO months before the season started unlike other sites.

FSU football is 3-2 at the moment. Let’s do some fun predictions for the rest of the seven games remaining:

So that’s three games FSU should definitely win (WF, BC, Cuse). So they’re going to win a minimum of six games.

Then there are two games that could be coin flips right now (UF and NC State). So let’s say they win those two to be very optimistic.

That puts FSU football at eight wins. Clemson is a loss and let’s say FSU loses to Miami next week(hope we’re wrong).

So, just looking at that there’s a very strong possibility that FSU football winds up 8-4 on the season. That would be the lowest win total in the Jimbo Fisher era.

The scary part is it’s not out of the question for this team to be 7-5 or even 6-6 either unless something changes on the defensive side of the ball.